On Senator Nwebonyi And His Frequent Hobnobbing With Senator Umahi: What You Need To Know

By Romanus Uzor Ozioko Legislative Media Aide to the D.

It was Henry Ford who once said : “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” This quotation aptly captures the perceived hobnobbing of Distinguished Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi with the Works Minister, Senator David Umahi. The two great leaders are moving forward together to the glory of God and for the betterment of mankind. Recall that, Senator David Umahi commenced the project tour of the six geopolitical zones immediately after his inauguration as the Minister of Works with Kogi state as his first port of call. Afterwards, he moved to the South West to inspect projects and to liaise with the contractors for quality assurance. Precisely, on Monday 5th September, 2023, Senator Umahi commenced the tour of the South East geopolitical zone and he was accompanied by Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi including some contractors, officials from the Ministry of Works and other critical stakeholders. Good as this project tour is, some detractors rather chose to question the rationale for a Federal Lawmaker accompanying a Minister to do his work. According to the naysayers, it’s unbecoming of a Senator to abandon his office and be perching around the Works Minister. Ordinarily, this diatribe would not have elicited my esteemed response but for the purpose of clarity and to educate some credulous folks on the workings of government especially the legislature. In the first place, the executive arm of government is not mutually exclusive to the legislature but mutually complimentary. The Legislature is the watchdog of the executive that curtails executive rascality and high-handedness. While the Legislature makes the Law, the Executive implements the Law. Therefore, the fundamental statutory duty of the legislature is lawmaking and oversight functions. That’s why there are Special, Standing and Adhoc committees of the House covering government ministries, boards, commissions, and parastatals etc. The Senator representing Ebonyi North zone, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi will definitely transmit the outcome of the current project tour of the South East to the Red Chambers upon their resumption of plenary by moving motions, raising matters of urgent public importance and referring lackadaisical contractors to the relevant Committees for appropriate actions. This is what oversight functions entail. Suffice it to say that Lawmaking demands versatility and being at home with the needs of the people. The tour will afford Senator Nwebonyi the knowledge of the infrastructural deficits in the zone and the bottlenecks hindering the expeditious completion of road projects in the south east. Interestingly, his strident voice has been both eloquent and persistent in demanding for the good of the common man at the Hallowed Chamber of the National Assembly. Note that Senator Nwebonyi was the first Senator to move the motion on the need to construct the Ebonyi-Benue link road in the floor of the Senate. The cheering aftermath of this important motion is the completion of the survey and measurements of the over 75.4417km. Heartwarmingly, there is great assurances that construction work will soon commence at the road. Secondly, the purveyors of these inanities forgot that the National Assembly is presently on statutory recess. When other Senators had traveled abroad to have some deserved rest, Senator Nwebonyi chose to transverse the length and breadths of the South East under the rain and in the sun seeking solutions to our collective problems. Rather than receive accolades from all and sundry, few disgruntled elements are dissipating their feeble energy on frivolous interests. Furthermore, according to Isaac Newton: “ If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." It’s no longer news that Senator Nwebonyi’s leap to stardom was greatly engineered by the benevolence of His Excellency, Senator David Nweze Umahi. It was Governor Umahi who appointed Nwebonyi a Development Center Coordinator, nominated him for Party Chairmanship of the then PDP, made him a super Commissioner for Capital City and crowned it all with his nomination as APC Candidate for Ebonyi North Senatorial district in which he won a landslide victory at the polls. Again, when the two great Ebonyi leaders became colleagues at the Upper Legislative Chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Nwebonyi continued to drink from Umahi’s bountiful reservoir of knowledge. It’s worthy at this point to quote Michael Jordan who said that: “ Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championship.” Barrister Nwebonyi’s hobnobbing with Senator Umahi is not a mark of weakness or perennial servitude but a sign of gratitude, quest for more knowledge and selfless service to the nation. Fortunately, Senator Umahi left the Red Chambers with indelible marks of leadership excellence as the Deputy Majority Leader and by the grace of God, the Distinguished Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi has picked up the gauntlet as the Deputy Chief Whip designate of the 10th Senate. Is this not a rewarding outcome of fruitful cordial relationships with Senator Umahi and other top echelons of the 10th Senate? In conclusion, as the Senator representing Ebonyi North Senatorial district, Senator Barrister Onyekachi Nwebonyi has raised many people-oriented motions that are widely celebrated ranging from police extortion, Quackery, Gender inequality, to the construction of Ebonyi-Benue link road. Through his gregariousness and political sagacity, he has been able to penetrate the imperial throne of power brokers in the country and its rewarding aftermath is the attraction of more democracy dividends to the good people of Ebonyi North Senatorial zone. He deserves our collective prayers, accolades and support not pedantic sentiments. Romanus Uzor Ozioko Legislative Media Aide to the Distinguished Senator. September 8, 2023.